An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century - California Ocean ...

EPA’s Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program aims to develop the toolsand science needed for a state-based statistical monitoring framework to determine trendsin the condition of all the nation’s aquatic ecosystems. This program uses a probabilisticsampling design that relies on data from many sites of similar habitat type as the best estimatefor overall condition of that habitat. A variety of information is collected throughthis program, including water column parameters, sediment chemistry and toxicity, andmeasurements of benthic communities. EPA also conducts monitoring through itsNational Estuary Program. As National Estuary Program sites were created, they includedan extensive characterization phase and an estuary-specific monitoring plan. Althoughmost continue monitoring to evaluate the effectiveness of their implementation efforts,there is no program-wide monitoring strategy. Finally, EPA is authorized to supportmicrobiological testing and monitoring of coastal recreational waters through the BeachesEnvironmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act, which was designed to reduce the riskof disease to users of the nation’s coastal recreational waters.Several agencies monitor atmospheric deposition, the process by which chemicals inthe air are deposited onto the Earth’s surface in wet and dry forms, contributing significantlyto coastal water pollution. The National Atmospheric Deposition Program, a cooperativeeffort of many different groups, measures deposition of a number of pollutants atmore than 200 sites. The Mercury Deposition Network, one component of this program,measures mercury levels in wet deposition. EPA’s Clean Air Status and Trends Networkalso measures dry deposition at about eighty sites. In addition, the Interagency Monitoringof Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) is a cooperative measurement effort to aidthe creation of federal and state implementation plans for visibility in 156 national parksand wilderness areas.Shortcomings in Federal ProgramsNotwithstanding the many programs described above, their combined efforts do not addup to a comprehensive, coordinated national monitoring network. One severe limitationof current efforts is the lack of monitoring in coastal waters.National monitoring has been greatly reduced, particularly in coastal areas, due tofunding cuts at USGS and many partner agencies. The USGS National Streamflow InformationProgram has eliminated a number of stream gages, including long-term gages thatare critical for studying climate change. To fully realize its potential, the stream-gagingnetwork will need to be modernized and gaps in coverage filled. Funding cuts have alsoaffected USGS’s water quality monitoring programs, resulting in reductions in the numberof sampling sites and sampling frequency. USGS’s National Water Quality Assessment’scoverage has been reduced in recent years, leaving out much of the coastal region. A 2001National Research Council report concluded that while this program has downsized in alogical manner, it cannot continue this trend and still be considered a national programfor assessing water quality. 4Budget constraints have also affected the National Stream Quality AccountingNetwork. At its peak in 1978, this program included 520 fixed-station sampling sites onmoderate and large rivers, which provided monthly estimates of flow rates, suspendedsediment, nutrients, trace metals, indicator bacteria, and phytoplankton. About 140 ofthe sites were located in areas helpful to estimating the input of water and materials toestuaries. 5 Currently, this program focuses only on monitoring the water quality of thenation’s largest rivers—the Mississippi, Columbia, Colorado, Rio Grande, and Yukon—with a total of only thirty-two stations. Most coastal regions are left out of the monitoringnetwork altogether (Figure 15.1).C HAPTER 15: CREATING A N ATIONAL M ONITORING N ETWORK229